Federal Judge blocks parts of Arizona’s new immigration law

Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) — A federal judge has blocked one of the most controversial sections of a tough Arizona immigration law, granting a preliminary injunction Wednesday that prevents police from questioning people about their immigration status.

That provision required police to “make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested” if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the United States illegally.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton’s ruling, in response to a motion filed by the federal government, came with scant hours to go before the law goes into effect.

Antiwar Left Grows in Congress With Latest War-Funding Vote

This has been a tough week for the Defense Department. WikiLeaks released thousands of government documents on the Afghanistan war, and an even bigger treasure trove on Iraq may be next, while a government audit just reported that the Pentagon cannot account for more than 95 percent of $9.1 billion in Iraq reconstruction money.

But at least the cash will keep coming. With the August recess looming, the House just approved a $59 billion bill to continue war funding and to increase spending on operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, by a comfortable 308–114 vote. That’s the good news for the Pentagon.

The bad news? The antiwar caucus is growing by leaps and bounds: 102 Democrats, including Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey (D-Wis.), voted against the bill (although Obey shepherded the bill to the floor, so his was a protest vote). That’s a substantial increase when only 32 Democrats declined to support a larger war-spending bill a year ago.

Michael Moore Is Right About Obama

I took a lot of flack, and was accused of being an apologist for the Obama administration, but Michael Moore said it better than I did. People on the left are right to be disappointed that Obama has not always done what we elected him to do. In my last article I addressed the things he has done, and there is no doubt that he is a better president than John McCain would have been. However, Michael Moore is right, we have to stand up and tell Obama what we want him to do.

For the remainder of this article and for links to videos of Michael Moore on Larry King, go here.

No to Oligarchy

by Senator Bernie Sanders / The Nation / July 2010

The American people are hurting. As a result of the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior on Wall Street, millions of Americans have lost their jobs, homes, life savings and their ability to get a higher education. Today, some 22 percent of our children live in poverty, and millions more have become dependent on food stamps for their food.

And while the Great Wall Street Recession has devastated the middle class, the truth is that working families have been experiencing a decline for decades. During the Bush years alone, from 2000-2008, median family income dropped by nearly $2,200 and millions lost their health insurance. Today, because of stagnating wages and higher costs for basic necessities, the average two-wage-earner family has less disposable income than a one-wage-earner family did a generation ago. The average American today is underpaid, overworked and stressed out as to what the future will bring for his or her children. For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.

But, not everybody is hurting. While the middle class disappears and poverty increases the wealthiest people in our country are not only doing extremely well, they are using their wealth and political power to protect and expand their very privileged status at the expense of everyone else. This upper-crust of extremely wealthy families are hell-bent on destroying the democratic vision of a strong middle-class which has made the United States the envy of the world. In its place they are determined to create an oligarchy in which a small number of families control the economic and political life of our country.

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I love this new feature and hope it continues. It is definitely in the tradition of the original OB Rag to put OB in its worldly context. And I hope the Blog will continue (as it has in the past) to steer people in the direction of doing something positive about these broader “community” issues that affect us all. Kudos!!

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